By Marianne Lincoln

It is a quiet morning, but the past few weeks have been busy with things that needed to happen for me before the holiday rush. With Thanksgiving around the corner, we are about to have a barrage of holiday invitations, events, and all the trimmings will be put up around the community. There are several stories coming to tell of what is about to happen.

But first, there is the Pierce County budget that should be finalized November 25. You may be aware that I have been working with the Chambers Clover Watershed Council (CCWC) and the Clover Creek Restoration Alliance (CCRA).

In the past eight years with a developer as our County Executive, the unincorporated South Pierce communities of Frederickson, Parkland, Spanaway, Elk Plain, Summit, and South Hill received a rezoning that included authorization to build high rise apartments and town homes along a corridor that is supposed to also be served by mass transit, called Centers and Corridors.

With the election of the current executive, Ryan Mello, a closer look has been taken (by several citizen environmental groups) at the loss of water in Clover Creek and the lack of wells and water rights to supply such an influx of housing.

In recent years, Lakewood Water has been extending water lines across the county to supply several water companies, in Summit, Spanaway, and South Hill. Then it was discovered that a spill of PFAS has contaminated several of the Lakewood area wells. PFAS (per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) substances are used as repellants for oils, water, and heat and are also in the fire fighting foam used on local air fields. Chemicals with fluorides are referred to as forever chemicals. They are difficult, but not impossible to remove from water. Concentrated by boiling, and removed by distillation or reverse osmosis, PFAS treatment is currently being tested at JBLM and other places in the area.

Budget wins for unincorporated Pierce County waters

The west side of C Street bridge in Parkland over the Clover Creek diversion channel contains two stormwater ducts from local street runoff. This stormwater flows directly into the water of Clover Creek. If you stand on the bridge, you can see them.

The concern about roadway runoff is that tires are treated with 6PPD (a rubber stabilizer) to make your tires last longer. It has since been learned that this chemical family kills juvenile salmon, particularly vulnerable are Chinook.

The C Street outfalls are being budgeted for movement to a filtration system so they will no longer go directly into the creek bed or creek water.

There will also be a test system, in the Puyallup River Watershed, to specifically filter 6PPD. Certain types of soil have been discovered to help remove this material. If this works on a large scale, it will be gradually implemented across the County in future years.

Additionally, the County water shortage for the central area of Centers and Corridors needed to be addressed. In Thurston County (LOTT), and in the new Tahelah development, sewage systems return fresh water after treatment back into the groundwater through settling ponds. Currently, Chambers Bay flushes the fresh water coming from our county sewers out into Puget Sound after treatment. This waste of fresh water was pointed out. It is especially egregious with the water shortage we face and with our creeks, that are fed by groundwater, going dry 10 months of the year. The budget calls for the treated freshwater (non-saltwater) to be sent to pumping stations and piped back to the Parkland, Spanaway vicinities.

So the budget reflects some very big wins that were hard fought for by people knowledgeable of the water situation in the county. Both contamination and availability are being addressed.

There are also a number of items to address Spanaway Lake. The dock replacement, the algae control and a controversial OST System (oxygenation system) to help improve the lake water quality and lower the risk of toxic algae blooms, if all works as planned.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, please add a prayer for our fresh water and all the people, plants and wildlife that depend on it. In the next few years, there is much to do. Please join us in rising to the occasion.